I'm the best plastic surgeon in the industry. Hendrick Twain is a regular customer of mine who has gotten his manhood enlarged nine times via surgery.

But after I performed the latest surgery on him, he decides to linger around in my clinic instead of leaving. He keeps showing off his brand-new luxury watch while gloating to me, "Isn't this watch pretty, Dr. Yard? Winona was the one who gifted it to me."

Upon noticing my lack of reaction, Hendrick approaches with a smile on his face. Then, he lowers his voice.

"What's the use of preserving your chastity, anyway? Winona prefers to be with a plastic hunk like me, who's gone through nine manhood enlargement procedures, than be with you, Mr. Au Naturale."

As I stare at Hendrick's face, which has gone under the knife countless times for minor adjustments, I remember the excuses Winona Grahm made to my face every night to avoid going home. Just the memory makes my gut churn in disgust. All of my grievances and disgust turn into ice at that moment.

Finally, I take the wedding ring off my ring finger and place it on the desk gently. Then, I grab my phone and dial the number, which I haven't called in the past three years.

"Dad." I sound eerily calm on the phone. "Since Winona thinks marriage is nothing but a joke to her, then there's no need for the Grahm family to continue existing in this world."

After hanging up the call, I watched the expression on Hendrick Twain's face shift from smug satisfaction to bewilderment.

But the very next second, a laugh escaped him.

"Jeffrey, who are you trying to fool? You're just a plastic surgeon! And you're thinking of bringing down the Grahm family, one of Provenia's elite families?"

Indeed. I was technically just a plastic surgeon. But that was only because when I first met my wife, Winona Grahm, she was pretty much a nobody.

That was why I, Jeffrey Yard, scion of one of the true old-money dynasties, hid my identity for her sake and chose to pretend to be just another ordinary person working in a small-scale plastic surgery hospital.

But as a result, Winona genuinely believed I was nothing more than a pitiful, insignificant husband she could trample whenever she pleased.

I calmly gathered Hendrick's medical file and waved it at him. "Mr. Twain, this is your last procedure here. I'll be keeping your records as a case study for future reference."

Hendrick's eyes slowly widened. "Jeffrey Yard! What are you playing at? Are you threatening me with my medical records? Have you no professional ethics?"

He lunged forward as he shouted, trying to snatch the folder. I sidestepped smoothly and pressed the emergency call button.

As the security guards rushed in, I said coldly, "This gentleman is harassing a doctor. Please escort him out."

The next moment, they had his arms pinned in iron grips and hauled him toward the exit. He thrashed and shouted the entire way, but no one paid him any attention.

I signaled to one of the guards to pick up the briefcase Hendrick had dropped amidst the struggle. Then, I walked to the window.

I watched as he was unceremoniously dumped outside. His briefcase was hurled after him, smacking him square in the face. For the first time in a long while, I allowed myself a genuine smile.

All this while, I had stood by Winona as she climbed her way to the top, secretly funneling resources from Yard Corporation to prop up her empire.

In return, she used the wealth and luxury I gave her to keep a flashy, pretty little boy toy on the side. And now, her boy toy had the audacity to strut in front of me like he owned the place.

After some time, I returned to my desk and pulled open the bottom drawer. Inside lay a yellowed document. It was the prenuptial agreement I signed with Winona years ago. As my eyes traced the third clause, my fingers tightened on the paper's edge.

"In the event of infidelity by the Wife (Winona Grahm), all shares in Grahm Corporation held in her name shall be automatically transferred to the Husband (Jeffrey Yard)."

I'd had enough, Winona. It was time to end this farce.

…

When I returned home with the documents, Winona was seated on the couch in the dimly lit living room. The moment she saw me, her eyes lit up, but her voice dripped with contempt.

"Henry called me. He was very worked up and said you humiliated him. When did you become so petty, Jeff?"

It was the same blind, baseless interrogation I'd heard countless times since Hendrick entered the picture.

When Hendrick had a rejection reaction after one of his procedures at the hospital, Winona demanded to know if I'd deliberately used substandard products.

When he crashed her car, she immediately accused me of tampering with it.

Even when he deliberately ingested an allergen just to play the victim and win her sympathy, she accused me of forcing him to do it. I was done enduring her endless favoritism.

I pulled out the divorce papers and a copy of the prenuptial agreement, slapping them both onto the coffee table. "Winona, we're getting a divorce. Sign this, take your innocent young lover, and get the hell out of my sight."

Her eyes widened sharply at the sight of the papers. But when she turned to look at me, she laughed scornfully. "Divorce? Have you lost your mind, Jeffrey? What would you live on without me? That pathetic salary from your job as a plastic surgeon?"

Then, it all finally hit me when I saw the sneer on her face. From the very beginning, she had only ever seen me as an accessory. A dependent husband who couldn't leave her, no matter how openly she cheated because I was too reliant on her to ever walk away.

I was just about to tell her the truth. But before I could get a word out, the door's fingerprint lock beeped.

"Winnie!"

Hendrick burst in, throwing himself into Winona's arms, his face a mask of grievance. "He… he went and told everyone at the hospital about us! I'll never be able to show my face there again!"

Winona's expression darkened, but her voice softened as she comforted Hendrick. "Don't worry. I'm here. He can't cause any real trouble."

When she turned to face me, her gaze grew cold and vicious. She snatched the divorce papers from the table and tore them to shreds in a few violent motions. "So are you planning to use a divorce to paint Henry as some homewrecker and destroy him completely? Is that it?"

Her hand shot up, aiming a slap straight at my face. Through gritted teeth, she spat, "You want a divorce? Over my dead body!"

I caught her wrist mid-swing and flung her hand away, letting out a scornful laugh. "How dare you raise your hand at me, Winona? You're quite something now, aren't you? Why don't you find out what your precious, innocent Hendrick gets up to when you're not around?"

I pulled out my phone and played a recording. Hendrick's smug, lecherous voice filled the room.

"She'd rather enjoy my fake junk that's been enhanced nine times over than ever touch your real thing even once…"

Hendrick's face went pale as he watched Winona's expression flicker between shock and uncertainty.

Then, he immediately clutched her arm tightly, his eyes reddening as he whispered, "Winnie, I… I only said those things because I'm so in love with you! I just wanted to boast a little! And look at him—he's so scheming! He even recorded our conversation! He must have been plotting against us all along!"

I nearly laughed out loud at his absurdity.

But to my astonishment, Winona actually seemed soothed by his words. When she lifted her gaze to me again, the disgust in her eyes was almost tangible. She clenched her jaw, each word deliberate and sharp. "What good exactly does it do you to go to such lengths to set him up, Jeffrey?"

I stared at her for a second before I broke out laughing. I was so thoroughly and utterly enraged that a genuinely helpless laugh escaped me.

I had always known Winona's love for Hendrick had no bottom. I just hadn't realized it had already twisted her this far beyond reason.

Strangely though, the realization brought me some sort of relief. Since this was the person she truly was, then I would just take it that the past few years of my life had all been wasted on someone unworthy.

When I looked at her again, my smile dripped with bitter mockery. "Winona, had I really wanted to ruin Hendrick, he would've been long dead by now. Even with you and the Grahm family shielding him, it wouldn't have changed a thing! This recording is simply evidence of your infidelity. All I want is a divorce—"

"Enough!" Winona roared, cutting me off. "Jeffrey, you've clearly lost your mind. You're just so jealous of Henry that you'll say anything against him, aren't you?"

Hendrick's smug expression returned in full force. He pointed straight at me. "Exactly! You're just some broke doctor! How dare you act so high and mighty? Winnie could snap her fingers and have you driven out of that hospital forever!"

My smile didn't waver in the least. "Is that so? Then have her try."

My apparent calmness seemed to provoke Winona further. She immediately pulled out her phone and dialed a number. "Mr. Windham? It's Winona Grahm. Dr. Jeffrey Yard at your hospital has serious ethical violations. I don't want to see him working there anymore."

She ended the call and looked at me with a self-satisfied stare.

Sure enough, my phone buzzed moments later. It was a message from the hospital HR informing me of my immediate termination.

That was quickly followed by an official announcement in the hospital's group chat. Not only had I been fired, but the security guards who had helped me escort Hendrick out were also facing consequences.

For the first time, I truly saw just how utterly and incomprehensibly unreasonable the woman I once loved was.

When I looked at her again, she was wearing a cold smirk. "Jeffrey, get on your knees and apologize to Henry right now. Maybe if I'm feeling generous, I'll let you keep your job."

In that moment, whatever was left of my heart died completely.

Ignoring Winona's demand, I turned and went upstairs. Then, I pulled out a suitcase and began packing everything that belonged to me.

The moment I grabbed the suitcase handle to leave, Winona burst into the room. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of the suitcase, and she wrenched it from my grip, hurling it to the floor with vicious force.

The suitcase burst open with a sharp crack, scattering my belongings everywhere. Among them, an antique wooden box tumbled out, its lid flipping open to reveal a custom-commissioned handcrafted watch engraved with my family crest.

My eyes locked onto it, and I lunged forward to retrieve it. That watch was the only keepsake my grandfather had left in this world.

But the box rolled to a stop at Hendrick's feet. A glint of mischief lit his eyes as he snatched it up, letting out an exaggerated cry. "Oh my! Jeff, this watch of yours is rather lovely. The craftsmanship looks exquisite. I quite like it. Mind if I keep it?"

I reached out, desperate to reclaim my family heirloom, but Winona seized my arm. "If Henry wants it, give it to him."

Her gaze bore into mine, her voice flat, as if she were offering up something utterly inconsequential.

I was so desperate to have it back that my eyes reddened. I couldn't tear my gaze away from the watch. "Winona… that was my grandfather's—"

"I said, if he wants it, then it's his."

Winona's voice rose, her grip on my arm tightening. "Everything in this house belongs to me. I decide what happens. And that includes you!"

When the realization struck me that Winona would never listen no matter what I said, I wrenched free of her grasp, desperate to retrieve my grandfather's watch.

But before I could reach it, Winona snatched it from Hendrick's hand and hurled it to the floor. "How dare you still fight for it? Then nobody gets it!"

"No!" The scream tore from my throat as I threw myself forward.

But the watch broke at my feet with a sharp crack, the glass face shattering on impact.

Trembling, I reached for the cracked dial and broken casing scattered across the floor. Then came a sudden pain as Winona shoved me aside forcefully.

She loomed over me, her eyes filled with barely concealed disgust. "It's just a worthless old watch! After everything you've done to Henry, this is nothing!"

Glancing down at the pieces of the watch I cradled tightly against my chest, I ignored my hands that were already bloody from the shattered glass and staggered to my feet. I stumbled out of the house with red-rimmed eyes.

Behind me, Winona's voice rose to a near-hysterical roar. "Jeffrey Yard! Take one more step and see what happens!"

I ran to the garage, threw myself into the car, and gripped the steering wheel until my knuckles went white. The sharp pain in my hands made me break out in a cold sweat. At the same time, the pain was also strangely grounding, sharpening my senses.

I stepped on the accelerator, desperate to escape that suffocating place. But the moment I pulled out of the neighborhood, blinding headlights shone into my eyes from the side.

The very next second, I heard a deafening crash. Then, the world spun violently before my eyes. The impact sent my head slamming against the window, and everything blurred through a haze of red.

As the car rolled through the air, I caught a glimpse of a familiar black sedan. And along with that, Winona's wild, almost maniacal gaze.

She walked over slowly, crouching down to where I was pinned in the driver's seat. Her eyes were bloodshot. "I told you—you're not leaving. Why won't you ever listen?"

Before I could respond, the sharp click of dress shoes approached. My gaze instantly dropped to the watch pieces scattered just outside the wreckage.

Then, a thick heel came down on them with deliberate force. Hendrick bent slightly at the waist, peering at me through the broken window with an unconstrained smile.

"Oh dear, Jeff. I'm afraid it's completely ruined now."